Coastal shipping of coal to double to 63MT in 6 years: CRISIL

Coastal transportation of coal is expected to near double to 63 million tonnes per annum (MT) by in six years, Crisil Research said today.
"Crisil Research estimates coastal transportation of coal to increase to 63 million tonne per annum (MTPA) by fiscal 2023, from 32 MTPA as of fiscal 2017 as structural bottlenecks ease," it said in a statement.
The bulk of the coastal movement of coal in India happens along the eastern coast, from the mines of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), via the Paradip and Dhamra ports in Odisha, to power plants in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
"However, congested berths, particularly at Paradip, are holding back rise in potential volumes. The mechanised coal handling plant berths at Paradip, through which most of coastal coal is loaded, have occupancy well above the benchmark norms of 70 per cent," Crisil said.

It said an addition of 22 mtpa of coal-handling capacity at Paradip is expected by calendar year 2020.
Crisil said in the longer term, the heavy-haul rail corridor connectivity between Ib valley and the Paradip and Dhamra ports will be a booster.
"According to the estimate, the overall coastal potential from operational plants alone, assuming a plant load factor of 75 per cent and/or existing linkage with MCL, aggregates to 63 MTPA today, including 35.7 MTPA from plants located near ports and 27.3 MTPA from those located 200-400 km inland," it said.
Prasad Koparkar, Senior Director, CRISIL Research, A spurt in domestic production would bring down the share of imports in the power sectors coal demand. While demand will grow at 6 per cent CAGR to827 MT in fiscal 2022 from 621 MT in fiscal 2017, the share of imports will reduce from 11 per cent to 7 per cent.